Man gets prison time in theft from Erie bird club

An Erie man said Monday that he stole more than $5,000 from a local pet bird club because he suffered from a gambling addiction.

The defense asked for probation.

The request didn't fly.

The defendant, Frank A. Long, 40, was sentenced to 11½ to 23 months in the Erie County Prison and three years of probation, a sentence in the standard range of state guidelines.

Erie County Judge William R. Cunningham, who delivered the sentence, did note that Long was seeking help for his gambling addiction.

Long's lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Maria Goellner, said he had voluntarily put himself on a self-exclusion list that bans him from Pennsylvania casinos. She asked for a sentence of probation.

Erie police said Long was the treasurer of the Erie Cage Bird Club when he started writing checks payable to cash and keeping the money between February and June 2016.

The president of the club noticed that $5,197.63 was missing from two club accounts and alerted police, according to the affidavit of probable cause in the criminal complaint. Checks from club accounts had previously only been issued to vendors or for other club-related expenses, and a receipt or invoice was supposed to be provided to account for the expense, the club president told police.

Police said about 45 checks had been issued, without receipts, from the accounts, when in a typical year only eight to 10 checks would be issued.

Long pleaded guilty in January to one third-degree felony count of theft by unlawful taking. He has been free on $25,000 unsecured bond since June.

He apologized at his sentencing.

"I'm deeply sorry for what I've done," he said. "I realize that I have a gambling addiction and I've taken steps to control that problem."

In addition to the county prison sentence and probation, Long was sentenced to pay full restitution and write a letter of apology to the Erie Cage Bird Club.

Madeleine O'Neill can be reached at 870-1728 or by email. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNoneill.